It was quite a year for politics. A close election. The media declares the Republican the winner. Democrats object. Votes are locked in state offices and can’t be counted. Party lawyers appeal to the Supreme Court. There is a hand count. Mobs march on the street.

I’m not talking about Florida in 2000, but about Maine in 1879 and the disputed governor’s election between the Democrats, Republicans and Greenbacks! In Maine that year, the issue was finally settled when Joshua Chamberlain came up to the State House, positioned a cannon outside the door and restored order. In Florida, the issue is being resolved in a bitter court fight.

But here in the Maine Senate, in the year 2000, with a dead even political tie, we resolve things differently. We don’t use cannons or courts. We talk.

And today, I want to congratulate Sen. Rick Bennett and Sen. Jill Goldthwait, Sens. Beverly Daggett and Sharon Treat, Mary Small and Paul Davis, for talking and not posturing, for looking for answers rather than dwelling on problems and for trusting instead of pointing fingers. We have together set a standard of civility that Washington might learn something from.

But I want to make clear that civility is not blandness. Civility is not everyone thinking the same thing. We are all different. We come from different parts of the state. We have different values. We belong to different political parties. And there is nothing wrong with any of this. Because from diversity comes strength. From passionate beliefs comes commitment. We are all here because we care deeply. And because we care deeply, we will inevitably and sincerely disagree.

Where civility comes in is that we must listen to those we disagree with and learn from others with a different point of view and respect each other’s good will. That is the philosophy I will bring to my tenure as president and I am sure Sen. Bennett will bring to his.

The next two years holds much in store for us. For the first time in a long time, we face daunting budget challenges that will require tough, creative decisions. But this is nothing new to members in this chamber. Most of us grew up in families where sitting around the kitchen table counting up the money and the bills was a way of life every winter. That’s the way it was in my family, as the son of a mill worker growing up in northern Maine.

Mainers know what it means to patch things together to make the money stretch just a little bit further. And I think it’s those very skills, and even more, that we’re going to need this year because Maine voters told us they want action in health care, in education and in so many other areas.

Maine families work hard. They struggle to bring better opportunities to their children than they once had. And that is what I believe Mainers expect from their government: be frugal, but expand opportunity.

And so, in a year when new spending and new tax cuts will surely leave plenty of room for disagreement, let us use some of that civility to work together to insure those priorities we heard from so many voters get the attention they deserve.

Last year, we passed historic legislation on the floor of the Maine Senate with a unanimous vote. That first in the nation law was designed to help keep drug prices affordable for all Mainers. That law is now threatened in court. At the same time, drug prices are going up faster than ever. This year, we need to stand together once more, all of us, and look the drug companies in the eye and tell them they need to help us cut the cost of drugs.

Last year, we passed major increases in state aid to education and in school modernization funds. The voters told us during this election, we’re not done yet. We need to work together and use some of that creativity to find the money our children need.

Last year, we worked together to find health care coverage for the uninsured. But the numbers of uninsured keep going up.

We must work together to tackle this crisis within our health care system, before another insurance company leaves Maine, before another single working mom is added to the uninsured, before another small business decides to cancel its health insurance benefits. No, health care is not a right guaranteed by our Constitution or memorialized in our statutes, but it is the right thing to do and we haven’t any time to spare.

There are many, many other pressing issues facing Maine: tuition help for technical college and the university, equal pay for equal work for women, livable wages for Maine workers, the elimination, once and for all, of domestic violence, keeping our schools safe, preventing sprawl and environmental degradation, keeping a working forest and waterfront.

You can undoubtedly add to the list. By next spring, we’ll be paring the list back again. But that is the legislative process. And though we’ll be doing it a little differently down here in the Senate this time, we will continue to serve the best interests of the people of Maine just as we have always done.

We will show the nation’s elected officials how to lead when the people have spoken almost exactly right down the middle. We will lead the way. Because above all else, we are Mainers and our state’s motto is Dirigo – I lead.

Mike Michaud of East Millinocket is president of the Maine Senate. He presented these remarks to the Senate on Dec. 6, the opening day of the 120th session of the Senate